ACT EVENT

BEETLES & MORE

WHAT

Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera, and with about 400,000 species, it is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are still being discovered regularly.

Beetles are common insects in Florida. They differ from all other winged insects by having the first pair of wings hardened and thickened. These hard forewings serve as a protective shield for the fragile flying wings.

We will not have to travel far from the lodge to find plenty to look at and discuss. While we will focus on beetles, we will find many other insects and “bugs” that we will try to identify as well.

Dr. Jiri Hulcr and Dr. Andrea Lucky are leading this walk. Dr. Hulcr is the resident Forest Entomologist in the School of Forest Resources & Conservation at the University of Florida, and Dr. Lucky is an evolutionary biologist and biodiversity scientist in the Department of Entomology & Nematology at the University of Florida.

ABOUT THE PRESERVE

Prairie Creek Preserve and the surrounding 1150 acres were purchased by Alachua Conservation Trust from 2005 to 2017. Over 500 acres of the property have been added to Paynes Prairie Preserve Park, and the remainder comprises Prairie Creek Preserve, a 606-acre nature preserve that is adjacent to Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetary, a natural burial ground that also conserves land.

WHAT TO BRING

Be sure to wear hiking shoes (boots preferred- never know how wet parts of the trail might be) and long pants. If you have binoculars and insect guides, don’t forget them too. Never hurts to bring water and snacks.

WHERE

PRAIRIE CREEK PRESERVE
Meet at Prairie Creek Lodge

-see map below-

WHEN

Saturday, April 14th
Starting at 9:00am

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact Alachua Conservation Trust by phone: (352) 373-1078 or email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).